Diversity in Broadcast Television: An Empirical Study of Local News     

Peter J. Alexander  Brendan M. Cunningham 《媒体管理杂志》2013,15(3-4):176-183

The relation between the structure of a market and the diversity of its product offering has been extensively explored by theorists. We develop 2 measures of diversity and explore the content of local news for 60 stations and 20 designated market areas (DMAs) in the United States. Using a relative station-level diversity metric, ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates imply that relative diversity of local news content decreases as market concentration increases. This result is not, however, robust to an instrumental variables specification. Using a total market diversity metric, the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (Hirshman, 1964) is significant in OLS and robust to instrumental variable estimation. Because the total market diversity metric is arguably superior to the incremental metric as a measure of overall diversity, this result is useful-it suggests that the total diversity of local news content within a DMA is sensitive to the level of concentration.  相似文献   

Views from the Margins: News Coverage of Women in Abortion Protests, 1960–2006     

Cory L. Armstrong  Michael P. Boyle 《Mass Communication and Society》2013,16(2):153-177

This study links two traditionally marginalized groups in media coverage: women and protesters. Both have generally been found to be underrepresented and misrepresented in mainstream news coverage. Employing a content analysis of abortion protest coverage over 46 years, this study assesses the impact of protesters' goals and tactics on the proportion of women in news coverage. Results indicate that female mentions were more likely to appear when protesters supported the status quo and when protesters were treated more favorably in coverage. Overall, however, the focus on men as sources over women as sources remained quite apparent. Implications for news treatment of women in protest coverage are discussed.  相似文献   

The 2008 Presidential Campaign: Political Cynicism in the Age of Facebook,MySpace, and YouTube     

Gary Hanson  Audrey Wagstaff Cunningham  Rekha Sharma  J. D. Ponder 《Mass Communication and Society》2013,16(5):584-607

Considerable research over the years has been devoted to ascertaining the impact of media use on political cynicism. The impact of the Internet has been difficult to assess because it is not a single monolithic medium. For example, the 2008 presidential campaign was the first presidential campaign in which popular social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube were widely available to voters. Therefore, the campaign offered the first opportunity to explore the influence of these social media on political cynicism. In this study, we examined whether the use of such social media influenced political cynicism. We also considered the influence of user background characteristics (e.g., self-efficacy, locus of control, political orientation, demographics, and influence of family and friends), motives for using social media for political information, and users’ elaboration on political content. Several individual differences were stronger predictors of political cynicism than was social media use. In fact, social networking use was a negative predictor of political cynicism. Results supported uses and gratifications’ notions that the influence of social media on political cynicism is more attributable to user background and media-use differences than to sheer use of these popular sites.  相似文献   

Collection Assessment of Monograph Purchases at the University of Nevada,Las Vegas Libraries     

James Cory Tucker 《资料收集管理》2013,38(3):157-181

The purpose of this article is to describe an assessment project of the monograph collection at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Lied Library. The circulation statistics and in-house use of all monographs for the nine colleges at UNLV were assessed analyzing the last five years of data. The analysis included an assessment of the circulation statistics and in-house use of books purchased on an approval plan compared with books purchased by individual liaison librarians. The findings illustrated the fact that overall use of the monograph collection has declined over the past five years. The findings also showed that books purchased on an approval plan had slightly higher use than the books purchased by individual liaisons. The study shows that academic libraries need to monitor usage of the monograph collection to be certain that money is spent in the most efficient manner and that usage data can be helpful if there is a need to reduce budget allocations for monographs or if a reallocation of funds for monographs is necessary.  相似文献   

Exceptional Research or Why Harry Truman Sought a One-Handed Economist     

Benjamin Compaine  Brendan Cunningham 《Journal of Media Economics》2013,26(2):47-50

This article challenges the traditional illustration of the relations between circulation size and advertising rates used by educators. It does so by using a sample of newspapers and explores various regression trendlines and data display of the data obtained from the sample. I find that the relations are best explained by curvilinear rather than linear trendlines and suggest an improved illustration of the relations between advertising price and newspaper circulation.  相似文献   

Reading-Related Skills in Earlier- and Later-Schooled Children     

Anna J. Cunningham  Julia M. Carroll 《Scientific Studies of Reading》2013,17(3):244-266

We investigate the effects of age-related factors and formal instruction on the development of reading-related skills in children aged 4 and 7 years. Age effects were determined by comparing two groups of children at the onset of formal schooling; one aged 7 (later-schooled) and one aged 4 (earlier-schooled). Schooling effects were measured by comparing the later-schooled group with earlier-schooled age-matched controls. There were significant effects of age and schooling on phonological awareness and visual–verbal learning, and an effect of age, but not schooling, on vocabulary and short-term verbal memory. We conclude that age-related factors and reading instruction contribute to the development of phoneme awareness and that vocabulary and verbal memory improve with age.  相似文献   

Modelling water systems in an introductory undergraduate course: Students’ use and evaluation of data-driven,computer-based models     

Diane Lally  Cory Forbes 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(14):1999-2023

ABSTRACT

Introductory undergraduate courses present an opportunity to use disciplinary concepts in solving authentic problems. Making complex natural systems accessible to students through computer-based models allows them to practice making evidence-based predictions and communicate understanding. Despite the importance of modelling tools in formal classrooms, gaps exist in our understanding of how post-secondary students engage in computer-based modelling. Introductory courses, particularly in the hydrosciences, typically do not use these tools. This mixed methods study examines students’ model-based reasoning about a water-related issue over two years in response to a flipped course model. Students in an introductory water course learned basic hydrologic content and used a computer-based water model to complete a project. Data came from a pre-/post-course assessment, student assignments, and student interviews. Results of quantitative and qualitative data analyses show that students in the revised version of the course (Year 2, n?=?53) increased their understanding of core hydrology concepts and performed better on their evaluation of a computer-based water model, than students in the initial course (Year 1, n?=?38). We tentatively attribute these observed changes to increased active learning opportunities surrounding computer-based modelling of water systems. Findings contribute to science literacy development, undergraduate science learning environment design, and undergraduate scientific modelling.  相似文献   

Infant IQ Ratings Evaluated after an Interval of Seven Years     

Bess V. Cunningham 《Journal of Experimental Education》2013,81(2):84-87

The four types of control groups commonly employed in cognitive manipulation studies were identified and arguments were presented concerning the problematic nature of each group as a baseline for identifying the “true” treatment effect. A general, two-step control procedure was advocated in which the researcher first identifies the most appropriate control group for a given context and then supplements this experimental control with statistical control. In reference to the latter controls, procedures were presented for developing a task-specific index as a covariable to be employed with a suitable measure of verbal aptitude in an analysis of covariance. The procedure was demonstrated on data from a quasi-experimental design in which it was shown that three different conclusions were possible depending upon the control procedures employed. It was argued that the converging operations obtained from the multivariate approach to the data analyses supported the results from the two-step control procedure. This procedure is not presented as a panacea but represents an attempt to “go beyond” the mechanical appocation of typical experimental controls for placebo effects.  相似文献   

The Integrating and Segregating Effects of School Choice   总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0  

Cory Koedel  Julian R. Betts  Lorien A. Rice  Andrew C. Zau 《Peabody Journal of Education》2013,88(2):110-129

We evaluate the integrating and segregating effects of three distinct school choice programs in San Diego. We go beyond the traditional question of racial integration and examine the integration of students by test scores, parental education levels, and language status. In addition to measuring the net integrative effects of school choice, we also examine the underlying motives behind student participation in school choice programs and the limiting influence of supply-side constraints. Two of the programs that we consider are rooted in 1970s integration-based reforms that provide public transportation for program participants. The third program is a state-mandated, open-enrollment program that requires participants to find their own transportation to and from their choice schools. We find that the two programs with underlying integrative objectives do indeed integrate the district, but the open-enrollment program segregates the district along most dimensions. Provision of busing and geographic preferences appear to be important factors in promoting integration.  相似文献   

SSSW,Better Content-Writing     

Dr. Patricia M. Cunningham  James W. Cunningham 《Clearing house (Menasha, Wis.)》2013,86(5):237-238

The North Carolina Governor's School offers a six-week residential summer program for four hundred academically talented rising juniors. This article measures the school's impact on these students in four fundamental areas: cognitive maturity, moral reasoning, personal learning style, and projections for the future. The results showed that Governor's School students advanced further on each of these critical tests than did equivalent nonattending students.  相似文献